It's just about two years ago now that I was first hospitalized for renal failure, at which time I also discovered that my alcohol consumption -- which began as a simple attempt to get to sleep -- had become a major problem. After a 10-week stint at outpatient rehab (described in prolix detail at the christening of this blog) I was clean, sober and in major pain. In the intervening months I managed to find a pain doc who, after the standard attempts with Percoset, finally prescribed morphine sulfate, which I had been taking prior to the hospitalization.
I imagine it's typical for alcoholics to revel in anniversaries and cherish their AA chips as badges of honor. In fact I received one such chip some time last year when I stopped by a meeting. But I feel no need to return to get my 2-year chip, any more than I feel the need, urge, compulsion to start drinking again. Probably because I already have a support group to attend (TBI, every Thursday), I don't have any real interest in attending AA or other groups.
As I've probably mentioned once or twice already, there is a liquor store next door to my pharmacy. Several times a week did I emerge with a fifth of bourbon, or a half gallon of vodka. Now I just walk by, knowing I've saved myself 20 bucks and a world of grief. Not once have I been tempted to enter. I can hear the words of my doctor two years ago warning me of the one-way street that leads out of the liquor store.
I don't need sleep that badly.
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